Carriage-curtain fastener.



F. S. CARR.

CARRIAGE CURTAIN FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.20, 1908.

942,6 1 2. Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

mn sw. m GRAHAM 20.. mXO-LITMQGRAPHERS. WASHINGTON 0 c UNITED STATESFRED S. CARE, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 CARR FASTENERCOM- PANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MAINE.

CARRIAGE-CURTAIN FASTENER.

Application filed October 20, 1908. Serial No. 458,701.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED S. CARR, of Brookline, in the county of Norfolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Carriage-Curtain Fasteners, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a fastener for carriage curtains, andcomprises a shank adapted for attachment to a support such as one of thebars or members comprising the frame of a carriage top, the shank beingformed to pass through an elongated eye in a buttonhole formed in acarriage curtain, and a head or button rotatively engaged with the shankand adapted to be turned to a position parallel with the shank to passwith the latter through the buttonhole, and to a position at rightangles with the shank so that its end portions will overhang the sidesof the shank, and the corresponding portions of the margin of thebuttonhole and prevent the removal of the curtain from the shank, theshank and head being so formed that when the head is in one position thebuttonhole can be readily moved onto and off from the head and shank,and when the head is in another position, it will prevent the removal ofthe curtain from the shank.

The invention has for its object to provide a device of this characteradapted to be constructed mainly or wholly of sheet metal without theemployment of castings and at a minimum expense.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed todescribe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification,-Figure 1 repre sents a plan view of a carriage curtainfastener embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 22of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4trepresents in section the shank, the head, and the bottom plate, formingthe principal parts of my improved fastener, disconnected from eachother.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

My improved fastener comprises a base member having a hollow shank 12which is preferably elliptical in cross section, as indicated in Figs. 1and 3. Said shank is adapted at its inner end to be attached to aSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1909.

portion of a carriage top, the shank being preferably provided for thispurpose with a flange 13 having screw holes 14L. The outer end of theshank has a fiat face 15 on which the head or button 16 bears and isadapted to rotate. A portion of the material of the shank is turnedinwardly to form a cylindrical outer bearing 17 projecting inwardly fromthe flat face 15, and surrounded thereby.

18 represents a bottom plate, the margin of which bears upon a recessedseat 19 formed in the inn er portion of the base member, said bottomplate being provided with a circular orifice 20 which constitutes aninner bearing in alinement with the outer bearing 17 and of smallerdiameter than the latter.

The fastener also comprises a movable member which includes a head 16provided with a flat inner face 21 adapted to bear on the face 15 of theshank, and a stem projecting inwardly from said face, said stem havingan outer journal portion 22 adapted to rotate in the outer bearing 17,an inner journal portion 23 of smaller diameter than the portion 22 andadapted to rotate in the inner bearing 20, and an intermediatespring-engaging portion 24 which is preferably of square or othersuitable polygonal form in cross section, as indicated in Fig.

In assembling the above described parts, the bottom plate 18 is appliedto the seat or recess 19, and the stem of the movable memher is theninserted in the hollow shank until the inner face 21 comes to a bearingon the outer end of the shank, the journal portions 22 and 23 at thesame time entering the outer and inner bearings 17 and 20. The inner endportion of the inner bearing 23 is then spread or upset sulficiently toengage the under side of the bottom plate, this oper ation inseparablyconnecting the said parts so that the bottom plate 18 cannot bewithdrawn from the base of the shank 12, and the movable member cannotbe withdrawn from the base member. The shank stem is, however, free torotate in the bearings 17 and 20 so that the head may be turned eitherto the position shown by full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, or to the positionshown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The base of the head 16 has the sameform as the cross section of the shank 12 so that when the head is inthe position shown by full lines in Fig. 1, it coincides with the shankso that a buttonhole in a carriage curtain may be passed freely over thehead and onto the shank. WVhen the head is in the position shownbydotted lines in Fig. 1, its major axis is at right angles with themajor axis of the shank, so that the ends of the head overhang the sidesof the shank and a portion of the carriage curtain buttonhole engagedtherewith to prevent the removal of the curtain from the shank.

The head may be held yieldingly in either of the positions abovedescribed so that it will not be liable to accidental displacement, bymeans of spring arms 25, which are preferably parts of a U-shapedspring, inserted in the hollow shank 12, and confined therein betweenthe flange 15 and the bottom plate 18. The arms 25 normally springinwardly against the polygonal portion 2 1 of the stem, the arrangementbeing such that when said arms bear squarely on two opposite flat sidesof said portion, the head is held thereby either in the full line ordotted line position shown in Fig. 1. The pressure of the spring arms issufficient to prevent any loose or accidental movement of the head fromone position to the other. When pressure is applied by the operator tothe head to turn the same, the spring arms yield and permit the buttonto be readily moved from one of the described positions to the other. I

It will be seen that the base member and the movable member are adaptedto be conveniently and economically manufactured from flat sheet metalblanks by the use of suitable dies. Each of said parts is approximatelycup-shaped. The base member may be formed by cupping a flat blank, themouth of the cup being enlarged to form the flange 13 and recess 19,while the bottom of the cup is flattened to form the face 15, and openedand flanged to form the bearing 17. The movable member may be alsoformed by cupping a flat blank, the bottom of the cup being left closedto form the head 16 and its outer portion contractedto form the face21,- the outer journal portion 22, the polygonal portion 24L, and theinnerv journal portion 23, theformation of these parts involvingsuccessive contractions of the outer portion of the cupped blank. Thebottom plate 18 is a flat sheet metal piece adapted to be formed by asingle operation.

The described sheet metal construction enables the fastener to beproduced at a relatively small expense as compared with fas teners, theprincipal parts of which are cast-' mgs.

I claim:

A curtain fastener comprising inseparable base and head members theadjacent portions of which are oval in transverse section, the basemember being hollow and composed of a sheet metal cup the bottom portionof which has a flat seat, and an outer bearing surrounded by said seat,while its body portion has an attaching flange and a recess surroundedby said flange, a bottom plate seated in said recess, and provided withan inner bearing, the head member being composed of a sheet metal cupthe bottom portion of which constitutes a head, while the body portionis contracted to form an inner face formed to bear on the said flat seatof the base member, and an integral hollow stem inseparably connected tosaid bottom plate and having outer and inner journal portions formed toengage the said outer and inner bearings, and an intermediate polygonalspring-engaging portion, the inner end of the stem being rotatablyengaged with said bottom plate, and a spring located within the hollowbase member and bearing against the polygonal portion of the stem toyieldingly hold the stem and head with their

